mr. chairman , and both sides of the aisle , i stand with president bush on this issue . 
the president has said , `` with oil at more than $ 50 a barrel , by the way , energy companies do not need taxpayer-funded incentives to explore for oil and gas. '' that was president george w. bush in the washington post , april 21 , 2005 . 
this amendment protects the taxpayer . 
this amendment is vital to restore some semblance of sanity to this legislation . 
to my colleagues from the gulf states i would say , vote for this amendment if you also support the provisions in h.r. 6 to distribute $ 500 million in ocs revenues to coastal states and to redirect $ 2 billion in ocs to alter deep water research . 
if you support that , you simply can not have it both ways . 
there will not be revenue enough for you to distribute if we do not collect the royalties on ocs production . 
i urge my colleagues , and from the gulf states especially , to support this amendment , and also i urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle , support president bush on this . 
